Australia in the 1930s

Summary of the decade

The Great Depression severely affected Australia. The Wall Street stock market in New York had crashed in the previous year. The collapse of international commodity prices, including wheat and wool in the late 1920s, meant that the heavy debts run up by federal, state and territory governments were almost impossible to pay off at the previously agreed rate.

Some politicians argued that the loan repayments shouldn't be made as the money would be better used creating local jobs. Other politicians said that the most important thing was Australia's financial standing and the debts had to be repaid or else the nation would be declared insolvent.

While the politicians were proving ill-equipped to come to an agreed solution, the Australian people showed themselves to be extraordinarily good at devising their own solutions to the problems of economic crisis and mass unemployment. They became more self-reliant, tilling backyard gardens to grow food, and devising cheap ways of entertaining themselves. Many relied on family or charity support to survive. Due to severe unemployment, there were many families who could no longer pay their rent and were evicted from their homes by the banks and forced to live in camps, which dotted the outskirts of the major cities.

A snapshot of 1938

January

The first national conference of Indigenous Australians was held at the Australian Hall, Sydney, to mark a 'Day of Mourning' and protest during the 150th Australia Day anniversary of colonial settlement. The conference was initiated by William Cooper, founder of the Australian Aborigines League (AAL), and The Aborigines Progressive Association (APA), led by William Ferguson, and Jack Patten. Participants called for Aboriginal land and citizenship rights.